Leadership Theories 2022

Leadership Theories
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University of Phoenix Material
Theory Definition/Characteristics Examples
Trait Leadership Trait theory of leadership mainly focuses on
specific characteristics of several successful as
well as an unsuccessful leader. This theory
concentrates over the effectiveness of a leader
or their ability to perform to manage an
organization (Fleeson & Jayawickreme, 2015).
Specific lists which have been made based on
traits are being compared with an influential
leader to measure the probability of success as
well as failure. The approach of trait which is
being taken by scholars is utilized to identify
demographic as well as psychological
personality. It provides constructive details
based on leadership, and is feasible for every
leader to apply in any company. With the
assistance of this theory, it is helpful for the
leaders of a company to analyse their position.
This would further help the leaders to improve
their performance which would be beneficial
for their position.
The vital characteristics of trait theory are the
strong capability of taking any responsibilities
along with having a good stamina. Moreover,
this theory suggest that a leader should have the
confidence with the decisions they make. In
order to become an efficient leader, it is
essential to balance between taking any
decisions and providing care for the team. In
addition, the leader must possess the quality to
influence and persuade other employees.
Furthermore, the job of leadership is quite
Steve Jobs had an amazing quality of a leader, who set the
best example of Trait theory. He was recognized as an
investor as well as an entrepreneur and CEO of Apple Inc. He
was a confident person with strong ambitions, and he has
become a role model for many aspirants. He was broad-
minded, curious, imaginative, and always eager to undertake
new experience that has made him an efficient leader.
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stressful, and hence to deal with that, the leader
needs to have emotional stability. A leader
needs to be matured enough to handle any kind
of situations set before them. A charismatic
leader is capable enough in motivating the
employees, because it will not only increase the
productivity of work but also is going to help to
reach the organizational goals and objectives
(Fleeson & Jayawickreme, 2015).
Behavioral
Leadership
A behavioural theory of leadership states that
to become a good leader, an individual does not
need to inherit it. With the help of proper
training, a person can become a good leader
who can inspire or motivate others. This theory
has been made based on principles which states
that one can condition the behaviours in certain
manners to become responsive to particular
stimuli (Carleton, Barling & Trivisonno, 2018).
In other words, this theory concentrates over
the performance of a leader instead of focusing
on their qualities. is It believed that the
behaviour of an individual can forecast the
leadership traits which they possess. The main
characteristics of behavioural leadership are
that it plays an important role in promoting
certain values associated with leadership styles.
In addition, behavioural leadership aids
managers to have a proper understanding as
well as evaluation regarding their behaviour as
a manager. It would help them to understand
the impact of behaviour over-contribution and
commitments towards the company. This
would allow the leaders to create a balance
In order to set an example for behaviour leader, the name of
Martin Luther King can be recognized. He was known as a
servant leader. He was a mentor, a coach, wanted by many
Americans to inspire their hearts and minds. The awareness,
along with humanity towards the consciousness of the human
rights, was derived from his successful speech "I have a
dream". He was also known for establishing and leading the
movement against legal segregation, that was considered as a
significant issue in America at that time. Although, the history
of his early days was not comfortable since he belonged from
a poor, middle-class family but choose to possess the traits as
a behavioral leader which made him a role model for many
people.
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Leadership Theories
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between several leadership styles and guide
them to become an effective leader. Significant
leadership behaviour focuses on making proper
decisions and providing inspiration to other
employees. In addition, it also concentrates
over building trust and must be grounded
regarding integrity and ethics (Thompson &
Glasø, 2015).
Contingency
Leadership
A contingency model of leadership explains
that to understand the effectiveness of a leader,
it is necessary to check the pattern through
which leadership style is matching the
situation. Fred Fielder created this theory while
he was researching the effectiveness of a leader
in the group. He believed that the effect of an
individual of leading properly depends upon his
style and the procedure of controlling the
situation (Conger, 2015). The theory has
assumed the fact that nobody can change the
style, and it is impossible to modify it. A
person can be termed as an efficient leader if
his leadership style, as well as attributes, can
match the environment and situation
surrounding them.
The theory does not make any suggestions
regarding the adaption of a situation, or to
measure the effectiveness of a leader, however,
it is vital to point out the pattern of leadership
style the individual follows (Conger, 2015).
This is mainly done with the help of a specific
procedure named least Preferred Co-worker
Scale (LPC). It assists in stating the forms of
workers with whom the manager of an
For example, consider a scenario where an individual is being
appointed as a manager for a manager for a pizza delivery
company. In this case, it would take some time for the
individual to build trust with other staff who are working in
the same company. In addition, the structure of the task is
high because of the transparent operating tactics that involve
many things, such as checking the quality of the pizza,
checking the order procedure, handing customers and other
related tasks. However, the position of manager also holds
certain powers of hiring, firing, rewarding, and punishing if
necessary. With the approach of contingency model of
leadership, the newly appointed leader can handle the
situation without much difficulty.
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organization would prefer to work. Higher
score of LPC denotes that the person has
specific personal skills and strong enough to
attend goals and objectives. It also means that
the individual relies on relations that they
maintain with others to achieve the goals and
objectives of an organization. While a low
score of LPC denotes that the leader is a very
task-oriented person who only concentrates
over the accomplishment of work.
Skills
Leadership
The skills-based theory of leadership signifies
the important aspects of a good leader. The
ways by which the possessed skills of those
leaders can be enhanced to fit in an
organization is also identified in this theory.
The major benefits of skill theory approach in
terms of leadership are, first, by utilizing a set
of definite skills through the stages of
development, and second, anyone can possess
the significant traits of leaderships, in any
organization (Harms & Credé, 2017). The traits
of a good leader in an organization refers to
one individual who is reliable, accountable,
honest, and most importantly, who is loyal, not
only to the organization but also towards the
employees of the organization. According to
the skills-based theories of leadership, these are
the most crucial characteristics that must be
possessed by a skilled leader in an organization
(Meuser et al., 2016).
Therefore, to possess and imply those traits for
the development of the organization, those
leaders must set their skills that are followed in
Mark Zuckerberg sets an example of this skill-based
leadership. It is also important for a leader like Mark
Zuckerberg, to exhibit social perceptiveness to give important
thoughts towards others. For most of the times, the ideas that
were implemented and envisioned for a new user application
by Zuckerberg was disapproved by many members of
Facebook. The addition of newsfeed on Facebook was a hot
topic then. In addition to that, the inclusion of newsfeed
becomes a concern among many people, since they felt that it
was leading to an invasion of their privacy. In order to
mitigate the concerning privacy issue, Zuckerberg responded
to them and created an alternative way by using which the
users can set their required privacy levels. Eventually, the idea
of Zuckerberg gets appreciation from many users.
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those organization. Those skills are included
with human development, technical as well as
conceptual development. The importance and
development of these skills are very crucial for
the growth of the organization. Since these
skills help a leader to communicate and pay
attention to others in the organization to sustain
a very good relation with them. The
behavioural flexibility and social
perceptiveness are also included in that skill
development that the leaders must possess.
Situational
Leadership
Situational leadership refers to an adaptive way
of leadership. Using the model of situation-
based leadership theory, an organization can
achieve successes through development among
workgroups and people to bring a better
version from the people and to establish a
milestone of success. Flexibility is a major
aspect of this leadership theory. Flexibility
refers to the adaptation of an existing
environment in terms of the requirements in an
organization by the leader (Lin, Ma & Johnson,
2016). Therefore, this theory regarding
situational leadership is not based upon the
possessed traits or skills of a leader instead it
focuses on the modification and optimization of
leadership characteristics towards management,
that can suit in the organization, accordingly
and effectively. Hence, adaptability signifies
one of the essential key characteristics of this
situational leadership theory (Lord, Day,
Zaccaro, Avolio & Eagly, 2017). Thus, it is
essential for the leaders to move from one of
Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the president of united states
at the end of world war 2, can be considered as an example
situational leader. He was a renowned allied commander
during the war period. He was popular and known to others
because of his possessed diplomatic characteristic along with
his ability to dictating the allied leaders to destruct the Nazi
war machines, at that time. He was taught how to order and
direct commands in his military background. He wanted to
become a good political leader not only for managing strong
personalities in the allied forces but to protect the president.
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Leadership Theories
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the possessed leadership styles to another,
depending upon the situation. Hence, it is also
important for the leaders to have a
considerable, insightful understanding of when
to alter their leadership style for management
and what strategy must be taken to fit in each
of those paradigms.
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References
Carleton, E., Barling, J., & Trivisonno, M. (2018). Leaders’ trait mindfulness and transformational leadership: The mediating roles of
leaders’ positive affect and leadership self-efficacy. Canadian Journal Of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne Des Sciences
Du Comportement, 50(3), 185-194. doi: 10.1037/cbs0000103
Conger, J. (2015). Charismatic Leadership. Wiley Encyclopedia Of Management, 1-2. doi: 10.1002/9781118785317.weom110122
Fleeson, W., & Jayawickreme, E. (2015). Whole Trait Theory. Journal Of Research In Personality, 56, 82-92. doi:
10.1016/j.jrp.2014.10.009
Harms, P., & Credé, M. (2017). Emotional Intelligence and Transformational and Transactional Leadership: A Meta-
Analysis. Journal Of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 17(1), 5-17. doi: 10.1177/1548051809350894
Lin, S., Ma, J., & Johnson, R. (2016). When ethical leader behavior breaks bad: How ethical leader behavior can turn abusive via ego
depletion and moral licensing. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 101(6), 815-830. doi: 10.1037/apl0000098
Lord, R., Day, D., Zaccaro, S., Avolio, B., & Eagly, A. (2017). Leadership in applied psychology: Three waves of theory and
research. Journal Of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 434-451. doi: 10.1037/apl0000089
Meuser, J., Gardner, W., Dinh, J., Hu, J., Liden, R., & Lord, R. (2016). A Network Analysis of Leadership Theory. Journal Of
Management, 42(5), 1374-1403. doi: 10.1177/0149206316647099
Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2015). Situational leadership theory: a test from three perspectives. Leadership & Org
Leadership Theories Matrix
Complete the following sections using the provided matrix template.
Develop a leadership theories matrix that describes the definition and characteristics of various leadership theories and approaches to leadership
(trait leadership, behavioral leadership, contingency leadership, skills leadership and situational leadership).
Provide one or more examples to support the definition or characteristics of each form of leadership.
Write out your explanations in each section; each section should contain about 350 words.
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Format your matrix consistent with APA guidelines.
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References
APA-formatted citation
APA-formatted citation
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